 NASHVILLE,
TN (August 13, 2005) -- Don't count Joey Miller out of the championship battle
just yet. After suffering mechanical woes in the previous race relegating him
to a 28th place finish, the talented rookie driver came back in dominating
fashion leading 98 of 151 race laps en route to the win in Saturday's
"ARCA RE/MAX 200" at Nashville Superspeedway. It was Miller's third
win of the season and fourth of his young career. Ironically, Miller won last
year's race at Nashville making his first-ever ARCA RE/MAX Series start to win
his first Gibson guitar trophy presented to race winners at the facility. This,
along with current points leader Frank Kimmel suffering engine failure and a
29th place finish helped propel the Lakeville, MN driver to within 215 points
of the defending series champion heading into the final seven races of the
season. All competitors used radial racing tires provided by
Hoosier.
Joey Miller won his fifth Pork Pole Award as the event's fastest qualifier
under sweltering conditions in the mid-90's. Miller blistered the 1.33-mile
track in 29.737 seconds (161.375 mph) to capture the top time among the 43 cars
on hand. Frank Kimmel was second (160.953 mph) as the duo began the race from
the front row.
Thirty-nine cars started the race that featured five leaders among two
different drivers. Joey Miller led three times (1-54, 86-103, 126-151) for 98
laps, while Erin Crocker led twice (55-85, 104-125) for 53 laps as she
continues her quest to become the series first female race winner. The race was
slowed eight times for cautions for a total of 48 laps.
Joey Miller was followed to the finish line by Ken Weaver in second, Erin
Crocker, David Odell and Chad McCumbee. All are in their rookie season. Danny
O'Quinn and Jason Jarrett were sixth and seventh, respectively. Erik Darnell
was eighth--the first car one lap down. Johnny Leonard was ninth and Jeff
Harrison was tenth.
Bobby Gerhart won the Hoosier Hard Charger Award for advancing the most
positions. Gerhart started 25th en route to a 15th place finish.
Frank Kimmel remains atop the driver standings with 4155 points followed by
Joey Miller (3940). Ken Weaver (3445) remains in third place followed by Chad
McCumbee (3310) and Mark Gibson (3190) are fourth and fifth, respectively, in
the standings.
TIRES: This was the second stop of the season at Nashville
Superspeedway for the ARCA RE/MAX Series. The Spring race was won by Chad
Blount who has since moved on to compete in another series. All the competitors
raced on Hoosier's 12.0/28.0-15 radial tires used on speedway tracks. They used
5120 left side and 5701 right side compound codes with one inch of
stagger.
ARCA RE/MAX Series events are serviced out of Hoosier
headquarters in Lakeville, IN. The service team is directed by Doug Barnes with
engineering support from Rick Tostevin. Despite the sweltering heat, tire
mounting and balancing activities were skillfully performed by Dave Wroblewski,
Mike Haenes, Chad Wright, Jake Hartle, Chris Grossman and Larry
"Toots" Merrill.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series is in full swing this week with a Friday race at
Michigan International Speedway where the drivers will be competing on radial
tires only to be back on the track Sunday at the Illinois State Fairgrounds
where the competitors will be using bias-ply tires. Hoosier Racing Tire is the
exclusive tire provider to the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
For complete race results and more information about the ARCA RE/MAX Series
visit their website at www.arcaracing.com.
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